US President Donald Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state’s Republican Senate primary shortly after early voting began in an increasingly personal and expensive run-off against incumbent Senator John Cornyn.
“Ken Paxton has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next United States Senator from the Great State of Texas – KEN PAXTON WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!,” Trump said in a social media post on Tuesday.
The timing of the move came as a shock, with early voting already under way. It’s also likely to rankle many Republican leaders in Texas and on Capitol Hill who had backed Cornyn, a four-term senator once seen as a potential majority leader.
Advertisement
After trailing Paxton in the polls for much of last year, Cornyn rallied to lead the March 3 primary vote, garnering about 42 per cent while Paxton got almost 41 per cent.
“It’s his decision,” a grim-faced Senate Majority Leader John Thune, a key Cornyn ally, said when asked of the endorsement.
Trump’s endorsement is seen as critical in Texas, a state the president won by nearly 14 percentage points in 2024. Democrats, sensing opportunity as Trump’s approval ratings sag, are targeting the Lone Star state as part of an uphill battle to gain control of the US Senate.